


bruised

by demonsorceress



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Gen, Lance's ribs are bruised, so is his ego according to Skye
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-13
Updated: 2014-12-13
Packaged: 2018-03-01 06:11:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2762600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demonsorceress/pseuds/demonsorceress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lance tries to hide he's in pain after being hurt on a mission, but Jemma won't let him just ignore it until it goes away.</p>
            </blockquote>





	bruised

**Author's Note:**

> I'm working on a long skimmons one-shot at the moment, but I wanted to post one shorter thing before my trip and I really felt like writing jemmalance today. :)

 “Hey there.”

He’s surprised, to say the least. He doesn’t spend much time with Jemma Simmons by herself. Not that they don’t like each other, it’s just… They’re usually in the company of Bobbi, Skye or Fitz too. He never stopped to think about that.

So, when she walks into the lounge where he’s hanging out by himself—only him, his beer and some random action movie on tv—it’s fair to assume she’s got a purpose.

Right?

He thinks so.

And then she sits on the couch next to him and he finds himself a bit confused.

“Um, hello,” he says.

She mirrors his mildly questioning look, but the corners of her lips are curving into what’s almost a smile. Like she thinks his confusion is funny.

“Are you… looking for something?” He feels stupid.

“No,” she answers. “Are you?”

The way she looks at him, her eyes innocently blank, it feels like she’s fucking with him.

He doesn’t suppose she’d do that, but in all truth he hasn’t known her for that long. She’s just so tiny and clever. He’s unsure as to what he’d expect from her.

“Me? No.” He sips his beer. “Just chilling.”

The silence that follows makes him uneasy. She doesn’t say anything for a while, just stays there, looking at the screen. He’s not sure why but he doesn’t think she likes this kind of movie. He doesn’t even know why he’s watching it himself.

Just to break the silence, he says, “You can pick another channel if you want.”

“Oh no, it’s fine,” she replies almost immediately, smiling up at him once again.

She’s so utterly _nice_ it’s nearly infectious. Being in her presence makes him want to smile too. What the hell.

“So, how was the mission?”

He thinks he detects a bit of a strange curiosity in her voice, but dismisses it. She’s just striking up conversation.

“It went off without a hitch,” he tells her. “How’s your part going? Was the sample Bobbi brought you worth for anything?”

“Oh, it definitely is.” Her eyes light up. He’s seen it before, in the lab, when she’s explaining something science-y. He guesses she’s going to start talking in depth about it, but instead, she cuts straight to the point. “I’m waiting for a couple of lab results and then we should have some interesting answers.”

He nods and takes a long sip of his beer.

“So, how are _you_ doing?” She asks casually. “I heard you put up quite a fight back there.”

Her tone doesn’t give away anything specific, but something clicks in his mind nonetheless. Suddenly, he knows what this is about. He exhales deeply, and the pain it causes him couldn’t be better timed.

“What did Skye say to you?”

She looks startled by the question, but not enough to fool him. “What?” She asks, her tone pitched higher than usual. “Nothing. I was simply told that you were-”

“ _Simmons_.”

Her audible sigh is the sign that she’s dropping the act. “Skye said you were getting your arse handed to you pretty bad before she got there.”

He throws his head back and groans, loudly, dramatically, almost like a child angry at his mom for taking away his videogame. Not because of Jemma, but because of Skye’s report of what happened during the mission.

Not that he expected anything less from Skye. He should’ve seen this coming.

“You know what? I’m not going to deny it.” He shrugs. He’s too tired to try to convince Jemma that it wasn’t as humiliating as Skye probably described it. (It kind of was, though.) “I was far from winning the fight with that guy until Skye showed up. She saved my arse. You two feel free to make fun of me for that.”

Jemma seems almost offended. “That’s not what I’m here for." He blinks. He guessed that Skye sent her best friend there to remind him that she saved his life. She was triumphant. "Maybe after I take a look at those bruised ribs."

He raises his eyebrows. On the way back from the mission, Skye asked a couple of times if he was really okay besides the obvious bruises on his face, and even though he assured her he was fine, she said he should let Jemma take a look at his abdomen. (And his bruised ego, she said. She’s the worst.) He didn’t expect her to tell Jemma about it.

The pain got worse over the past couple of hours, but he’s dealing with it like he does with most of his problems: ignoring it until it goes away. It’s not bad enough that he needs a doctor. Probably. He’d have noticed if any ribs were actually broken.

And he didn’t want to admit to Skye he was in pain. Whatever.

“I told her I’m _fine_ ,” he repeats. It’s no big deal.

He’s being careful not to breathe too deeply because it hurts like hell but it’s no big deal.

“No, you’re not,” she insists calmly, and her tone leaves no space for discussion. _I’m the doctor here_. “Skye warned me you’d try to hide it.”

“Tell Skye she seems strangely worried about my well-being,” he teases.

“Will do.” Jemma lowers her eyes. “Now take off your shirt.”

He smirks. As soon as he opens his mouth, Jemma cuts him off. “And don’t tell me to at least buy you dinner first.”

He purses his lips together.

“You’re so predictable.”

He lets out a chuckle before pulling his shirt up to reveal the bruised side of his abdomen. The way it looks now comes as a surprise. It’s gotten worse than when he arrived, that’s for sure. A lot worse. Concerning, actually.

“Your definition of ‘fine’ is seriously flawed,” Jemma tells him, hesitantly reaching out to touch the swollen area. "This looks awful."

"It doesn't feel too good either," he comments under his breath.

The pressure of her fingers over the exact places where it hurts the most makes him bite his lip to avoid groaning.

She looks up sympathetically.

"You should've told me about this as soon as you came back from the mission."

She’s critical, but understanding at the same time. A warning for the next time he's beaten up in the field.

"Alright, doctor," he says.

"Come with me." She gets to her feet and waits for him to do the same. "You need to put some ice on this, and I'll get you pain meds."

Rather than medical recommendations, she sounds like she's giving orders. He finds it a bit amusing, to be honest. She can be quite bossy when she's working as the team's medical doctor.

As he follows her to the lab, though, the sarcasm manages to breach through her professionally serious tone. "Oh, and Skye says you owe her one."

He sighs. These two are going to be his downfall.


End file.
